An uplifting yet grimly realistic tale of a young chai-wallah scraping a life out of poverty was last night being talked of as an Oscar contender after it took three awards at the British independent film awards (Bifas).

Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire, the story of a Mumbai teenage boy who astounds all around him by doing well on the Indian Who Wants To Be a Millionaire quiz show, won best film, best director and best newcomer for its British lead.

In a night when honours were spread about, there were also three wins for Hunger, Steve McQueen's unflinching portrait of Bobby Sands and the hunger strikes; two for Mike Leigh's Happy-Go-Lucky; and one for In Bruges, Martin McDonagh's comedy about two Irish assassins sent to Belgium.

But Boyle was the talk of the night. The former artistic director of the Royal Court theatre is already on many pundits' Oscar prediction lists after a film career which has seen him happily flip genres: from Edinburgh heroin addicts in Trainspotting to Leonardo DiCaprio in The Beach to zombies in 28 Days Later.

Last night he was named best director at the Bifas and Slumdog Millionaire was best film. The film's young lead, Harrow-born Dev Patel - best known to British audiences as Anwar in E4's Skins - won best newcomer.

Slumdog Millionaire, written by The Full Monty's Simon Beaufoy, tells the story of a Mumbai street child. As he does well on the quiz show, flashbacks chronicle his life, the realities of which Boyle does not flinch from showing.

Boyle's film, a third of which is spoken in Hindi, opens in the UK on January 9 but has already gone down well on the festival circuit and opened to fantastic reviews in the US.

USA Today was similarly won over: "The beautifully rendered and energetic tale celebrates resilience, the power of knowledge and the vitality of human experience. Horrifying, humorous and life-affirming, it is, above all, unforgettable." The Los Angeles Times declared it "the best old-fashioned audience picture of the year".

The Turner prize-winning artist Steve McQueen, who represents the UK at next year's Venice Biennale, won the best debut director award for Hunger and the film's cinematographer Sean Bobbit, won best technical achievement. Leading man Michael Fassbender won best actor for his astonishing - not least in the 33lbs of weight he had to lose - performance as Sands.

Hunger is not a film for a cheery romantic night out. It shows the reality of the dirty protests in the Maze prison in stomach-churning detail. Nothing from the Sands story is stepped away from: the brutality, the torture and the alarming effects starvation has on a man's body.

At the other end of the movie spectrum, Mike Leigh's Happy-Go-Lucky, which follows a relentlessly cheerful London teacher called Poppy, won two acting awards. Eddie Marsan won best supporting actor for his role as the crazed racist driving instructor, and Alexis Zegerman won best supporting actress as Poppy's best mate, Zoe.

The well-fancied In Bruges, featuring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as a pair of chalk-and-cheese killers sent by their psychotic boss (Ralph Fiennes) to Bruges, came away with the best screenplay award for its writer and director Martin McDonagh. It was the playwright's film debut.

Vera Farmiga won best actress for her role in concentration camp drama The Boy in The Striped Pyjamas, while the Israeli animation Waltz With Bashir won best foreign film.

At the ceremony in Old Billingsgate Market, London, special awards were also given out. The actor David Thewlis was rewarded for his outstanding contribution to British film, while Michael Sheen - best known for being able to pass himself off as Kenneth Williams, Tony Blair and David Frost - was given the Variety award.

It was the 11th Bifa ceremony, with the awards seeming to grow in stature each year. Co-directors Johanna von Fischer and Tessa Collinson, said: "It's been another stellar year for independent film in Britain, as represented by the diverse spread of nominations across the board.